Thanksgiving recipes, what are you thankful for and more words of wisdom from my kids



Jenny(age 4)
What are you thankful for:
Jenny said:  My family and my friends.  And I love my friends and family.  I am thankful for Jesus and my friend little Hannah.  I am thankful for trees and uhmm my house.  I am thankful for Chippy (that is the chipmunk in our yard).  And I am thankful for for my Mommy and Daddy and bro bro and sissy. 

Turkey Recipe:
You have to take it out of the bag
Put some M&Ms  on it and some animal crackers and some chocolate chips
Put it on 5 degrees
and cook it for 6 hours.
Take it out and let it cool and then EAT IT.

Hannah (age 7)

What are you thankful for:
Hannah said:  I am thankful for my friends and family.  Grandparents, and my church friends.  I am also thankful for my food.  I am also thankful for Jesus.  I am thankful for the gifts that God gave me.

Turkey Recipe:
First you need a turkey from a store.  A 40 lb turkey (mind you she doesn't weigh 40 lbs)
Make it pretty with flowers around it before you bake it. 
Put some salt and pepper on it.
Bake it at 60 degrees for 20 minutes until it is cooked.
Then you will put it on a dish and put some more flowers around it.  Then everyone gathers around the table and eats potatoes and stuffing and yams.  And also a chocolate cake and pumpkin pie for dessert.

Christopher (age 10)
What are you thankful for:
I am thankful for my family , my friends, Jesus and the world.  I am thankful for my toys. 

Turkey Recipe:
Get a 15 lb turkey.
Use seasonings like garlic, salt, oregano, pepper
Put it in some sauce and keep it there to marinate it for a couple minutes at least.  Then put it on the grill.
Cook it for about an hour or so until it is brownish and golden.
Take it out and let it rest for a little bit and then put it back on for 15 minutes.
Take it out and it will be a beautiful golden color.
Serve it with peas, broccoli, tomatoes and also some soup. 
For dessert we will have pumpkin pie, cherry pie and apple pie. 
It will serve 5 people

Monday ,,,,,is it Monday.....again?

Mondays sneak up so fast!  I swear the weekend flies by and Monday is upon us.  We never have enough time together on the weekends.  Mike works so hard and the weekends is our family time.  It flies by.  So glad this week we will get some extra time because of the holiday.  I plan to make the most of it.

Two days of school this week for the older two and then the fun can begin. 

On Wednesday, we will have family chore day (early it is usually Saturday) without Daddy but I am going to make it fun.  I am going to make it a contest and they can earn prizes for the silliest cleanup costume and the fastest bed maker and the like.  We have to get ready for guests on Thursday and we want to make our house shine. 

On Thursday we will have lots of cooking to do and the kids and Daddy will play the Wii.  Oma and Opa and friends will come to eat with us and we will eat and play games and probably eat some more.

Friday we will begin putting up our Christmas decorations and make cookies and wo knows what all we will do.  Although Mike does have to go in to work that evening.  Saturday, Mike will work half a day and then we will finish whatever decorations we have left to do and eat lots of leftovers. 

Sunday will be church of course and then back to the grindstone on Monday until Christmas break.  See Mondays come toooooooooooo soon.

If I can...I will try and post some pictures and/or threads about our week...time will tell..LOL.

Saturday Musings

Seems like every time I try to get consistent with this blog...well...stuff comes up...life happens.  So much has been going on lately, including a tummy virus that cause Jenny have a trip to the ER for an IV.  NOT FUN!
Hannah had her 7th birthday and was baptized by her Daddy. (Yes the dates on the camera are wrong..my camera has issues..LOL).

sorry it is blurry..I was emotional and shaking

yet blurry again.

Nothing is more precious than watching your child follow the Lord in water baptism...add to that Daddy doing it and yes, Mama is a emotional mushy mess.

I spoke to a lady at our church last night I hadn't had the privilege of talking with yet...she told me what a blessing it was to watch my son worship God.  I was blown away.  Then someone else told me, that my children were such a blessing because of how spiritually aware they are.  Again I was blown away and finally someone told me that I was one of the best mothers they had ever seen.  I was completely floored.  Because I see my failures, my mistakes...my having to apologize to one of my children because I was too harsh or misunderstood and disciplined when they didn't do what I thought etc.  I am floored.  I am glad I can be a witness, but too often I feel like a failure at parenthood.  I feel like I don't do enough and that I am messing up badly and then someone says that. I am blessed.  God is faithful and He lets us know sometimes...I see your heart...I know you are trying and I love you.

Mommy Blessings

I feel so blessed to be the mother of my 3 children.  Their faith is so strong.  All 3 have accepted the Lord into their hearts and are so open to the things of God. 

Next week, on her birthday, Hannah will follow the Lord in water baptism.  She is so excited.  She loves her Lord so much.  I am already feeling the emotion of it...the immense gratitude to God that my child wants to serve the Lord.  My prayer is that she will always want to serve God with all her heart, mind, body and soul.  What a precious gift is a  child's heart that is yielded to the Savior. 

Are my kids perfect?  Absolutely not...just take this morning, Sunday morning of all things...they had to go in to major sibling issues before church.  We had yet another talk with them and they have been put on warning status.  There will be dire consequences the next time they get into such altercations on a Sunday morning while we are trying to get ready to go to God's house to worship Him.  I have yet to decide what the appropriate consequence will be, but there will be one.

In the midst of this we still find blessing because our children so readily go to church.  The love going to His house.  They love to praise and worship.  Watching them as they praise their Lord is truly beautiful.  God is good all the time.

Life, love and marriage

Saturday, Mike and I celebrated 11 years of marriage.  We have had our ups, downs, tests, trials, sorrows, joys, and walked through the valley of the shadow of death on more than one occasion.  Only God can help a couple weather the storms of life in the way we have.  We argue like any couple, but our love remains strong.  Building a marriage on the rock called Jesus DOES make all the difference. 

We made vows, 11 years ago and it has taken determination, prayer and love to make it work.  Marriage is work.  You don't just get married and then everything falls into place.  People are different.  People change.  Because of these two facts, marriage is ever changing and morphing into something else. It is our choice in choosing how to react to those changes that makes the difference.  Yes, there are some relationships that are toxic and dangerous.  However, most problems can be worked out.  Most storms can be weathered.  It would surprise some if I told all the stuff we have weathered.  People think we have it easy.  That is far from the truth.  However, on that day, 11 years ago, we purposed in our hearts we would never ever have an out.  We would do whatever it takes to keep us going.

Today we have 3 beautiful children.  We still have our ups and our downs.  What used to be cute and adorable to each other when we first got married.......not so cute and adorable as it was then.  I mean, used to if he snored...it was funny.......now I just want to sleep.  Used to the tapping of the toothbrush on the sink...not to bad, now it is akin to a drum going of in the other one's head.  Not because we don't love each other but because love changes and we change.  Getting past the little annoyances is the key. 

Learning that life is short and you never know what will happen next; helps you appreciate each other more.  Standing together holding your child in your arms and not knowing if this will be his last breath; changes you.  Suddenly, you find that the things you use to worry about....are not so big.  Having God intervene and knowing you have been given a miracle humbles you.

Life is not a bed of roses and neither is marriage.  But it is oh so worth the pricks and the stumbles and the hurts over the years when you have decided forgiveness will be a corner stone of your marriage.  Forgiveness.......love.......faith.....and most of all the Lord.  If you have these...you can weather things you would not believe.  Does that mean there will be no more problems? Of course not.  It means that together you can face them because Jesus is in control.

October 9, 1999 

What's Up

Jenny was distracted today and I said:

Jenny you are not usually distracted, what's up.

She said:
"Clouds".

Now she wasn't being fresh because she said it, in a sweet way.  I guess she thought she was just answering my question. 

I need to find some other ways for her to practice her name writing.  She is getting bored with the usual.  So, I need to break it up.

Today we are working on several things and she is a bit distracted.  I think I will take her for a Fall walk once she finishes this worksheet to help her focus. 

Nothing says I have to do things a certain way.  I can be flexible and tailor her day to her needs.  Since we haven't done as much PreK lately she just may need to get back into the routine. 

I am surprised how much she has picked up with what we have and haven't done.  All of a sudden she is really getting the phonics concept and beginning sounds.  We are going to work on it some more, but she really is getting it.  Now if I can just be consistent well...more consistently.

So now I think we will take a walk and see those clouds that are indeed UP.

Trying to come up with some idea for PreK this week.

I think we will bake some and maybe go on a "field trip".  I want to do a fall based theme.  I also want to focus on phonics, counting, writing and recognizing some site words.  I plan to get some contact paper and laminate some stuff I have to make it more durable. 

We have lots of leaves in our yard so we will probably do some leaf crunching..LOL.  I need to make sure she gets outside every day.  I am going to go to the dollar tree and see if we can find some more things to add to our preK stash.

We are going to do lots of reading. 

I think I also want to do a "photo" book of her day and then us make a story called Jenny goes to PreK.
We will take the photos and then write what is happening and make a story of her whole day.

Just some ideas I am kicking around.